“Why do you go away? So that you can come back. So that you can see the place you came from with new eyes and extra colours. And the people there see you differently, too. Coming back to where you started is not the same as never leaving.”

I really wish I could have kept this one for myself, it’s one of my favourite pieces that I’ve done so far. The fire effects worked out pretty well – I ended up using layered transparent fabrics to simulate the flames, and shiny red and gold fabrics for accents. They definitely added a lot to the artwork.

Friend and I went to the Astor Theatre to watch this 1981 German film, considered to be one of the greatest war films ever made and probably the greatest submarine film of all time. I’ve no argument against these claims whatsoever.

I’m glad I took a gamble with this young Norwegian singer. I’m very selective with my live gigs these days, and normally I’d hesitate to spend money on someone whose music I don’t know very well, but I just had a good feeling about this one.

In the foreword she wrote for this novel, Christie names Cards on the Table one of Hercule Poirot’s favourite cases. I guess there’s no arguing with the author who is basically God of her fictional universe, but even so it’s a plausible claim. This case depends almost entirely on psychological sleuthing, and there’s nothing that our favourite Belgian detective enjoys more.

This horror film with a beautifully simple premise had many things going for it, but its dramatic shortcomings and a few too many contrivances stopped me from loving it as much as many other people seem to.